


i’ve never fallen from quite this high

by a_secondhand_sorrow



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Ask Game, BandTrees, Crying, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Crying, Originally Posted on Tumblr, i guess?, just dorks bein cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 11:40:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_secondhand_sorrow/pseuds/a_secondhand_sorrow
Summary: The night seemed to hold its breath as her car shifted into off and her head fell back on the seat, waiting to see how she’d react, how she’d act next.She only got halfway to the front door before tears started forming.As she knocked rapidly on the door-three quick, two long, another two quick, which was their specialty-she could almost feel Evan on the other side sensing her arrival.Then he opened the door, grin wide.“Hey, wh-“ his smile faded, noticing her close-to-tears look and mussed up hair-from tearing her hands through it too many times, trying to find sanity in an otherwise insane world. “Want to come in?”***A cute, comforting bandtrees because there’s SUCH a shortage.





	i’ve never fallen from quite this high

**Author's Note:**

> title from “ocean eyes” by Billie Eilish 
> 
> Requested by @badIdea on Tumblr: “Hello there! Could I please ask for a cute bandtrees fic? It could be a little angsty (like Zoe having family probs or Evan having anxiety probs and the other one helping them) but generally just cute comforting supportive bandtrees?? There are not enough fics of them just being good for each other!! Thanks so much!”
> 
> so, here it is. god I love em

The night seemed to hold its breath as her car shifted into off and her head fell back on the seat, waiting to see how she’d react, how she’d act next.

She only got halfway to the front door before tears started forming.

As she knocked rapidly on the door-three quick, two long, another two quick, which was their specialty-she could almost feel Evan on the other side sensing her arrival. She heard a quick, “I’ll get it, mom,” with a surprised noise from Heidi and something a little muffled-a tv? Maybe it was just Evan ensuring she didn’t do anything embarrassing.

Please. As if she could ever be embarrassed by his family.

Then he opened the door, grin wide.

“Hey, wh-“ his smile faded, noticing her close-to-tears look and mussed up hair-from tearing her hands through it too many times, trying to find sanity in an otherwise insane world. “Want to come in?”

Zoe only nodded, suppressing tears a little more. She was already at his house. She didn’t need to impede on his night further by crying.

As she stepped over the threshold and Evan took her coat, she saw Heidi out of the corner of her eye, coming down the hallway with the same smile her son had worn only moments before.  
“Oh hi, sweetheart, I didn’t realize you’d be coming by.” Unlike Evan, she didn’t turn off her cheery demeanor when she noticed how on the edge Zoe looked. She only got a little quieter.  
“I-I didn’t mean to intrude.” Zoe bit her lip, looking down at the floor.

Heidi only laughed at that. “Of course you’re not! You’re welcome here any time, you know that. How about I get you something to drink? Tea? I know you love that chamomile, I’ve got some saved just for you.”

As Heidi started back down the hallway after a pat on Zoe’s shoulder, she could’ve burst into tears right then. Heidi even knew what tea she liked-saved some for her, even. It seemed so… laughable, compared to what had been happening only an hour before in her own home. She only managed a small “thank you, Mrs. Hansen.”

“Oh please, it’s just Heidi. And I won’t keep you any longer, I know I’m just an uncool mom. I’ll call you when the tea’s ready.”

So Zoe let herself be led by Evan into his room, away from the gentle yet prying behavior of Heidi Hansen.

Nudging the door so that there was only a small crack of it open, Evan watched Zoe choose to sit on the floor instead of the bed or desk chair. With no hesitation, he sat down next to her, leaving a little space, but close enough the could reach her.

“Hey,” she said, trying for something casual to erase whatever the hell had happened outside. Clearly, it hadn’t worked to maintain her yeah I’m kind of having a mental breakdown but it’s fine  
I’m fine it’s cool look.

“Hey,” he replied, in a gentle tone, softly reaching a hand out to brush her face. After a moments pause, he used his height advantage to reach over and press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

And that was all it took. Despite the fact she’d been holding back tears since she arrived, her brain had no plans to continue, and she managed to suppress them for only a moment, a few tears slipping down her cheeks as if as a warning. Then the dam broke, and she was straight up sobbing, without even really knowing what caused it.

When Zoe cried, she just… shut down. Curled in. Tried to make herself as small as possible. It wasn’t something she did in everyday life, unlike Evan, who she saw doing it often. But she did every time she cried, which wasn’t that often. And that’s what she started to do-curl in, protect herself. Make herself smaller, and minimize the pain.

Evan looked startled for only a second, but not surprised, before leaning in again and wrapping his arms around her, even as she tried to shrink away. “Hey,” he said again, in the same  
comforting tone. “It’s alright. I’m here.”

For some reason, this only made her cry harder.

 _He’s_ _here_ , she thought. _He’s_ _here_.

She was wrapped around herself, and he was wrapped around her, and slowly, she felt herself unfurling a little, until she was able to wind her arms around his neck and bury her face in his shoulder, letting tears fall without worrying.  
Evan absolutely hated seeing her cry like this, completely reduced to sobs racking her body. He could feel tears pricking his own eyes, drawn by the tears he felt soaking his shirt, but he forced them down and pressed another kiss to the top of her head, whispering reassurances. She was always strong, so he would be too.  
When her breathing began to slow, she decide not to remove her face from his shoulder, letting herself breathe in his scent. It was fresh and woodsy, like a pine tree. She wanted to stay there forever, with their arms around each other, letting the rest of the world disappear.

Instead she pulled back a little, bringing her lips to his in a soft kiss.

Resting his forehead against hers, Evan brought a hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He let them sit for a minute in comfortable silence before breaking it to say “you know that I love having you here, but-“

“No, no,” she cut in, jumping back a little. “I can go-“

“No!” He cut in, grabbing her hand a little to coerce her into sitting back down, hoping it would convince her. “No, that’s not it at all. I just- I just wondered, you know. I wondered wh-what caused that.” Zoe only looked down, drawing her knees to his chest.

“Y-you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to?” Evan rushed in, dipping his head to try and catch her eye.

“No.” Zoe sighed, biting her lip again and drawing away a little more. “It was-you know things are complicated with my brother. And my parents. And tonight was just-“ she cut off with a shuddering inhale-from the crying or the memory, Evan couldn’t tell-“worse than most. Connor was high again-like, _really_ high, even though he’s been getting better, and my dad was just livid, and my mom was trying to make it better but was really making it worse.” She closes her eyes and leaned her forehead against her knee before continuing. “And there was just so much shouting and I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts, it was like the whole family was at war. And then someone broke a vase, which only made the shouting worse and-and I had to get out.”

Throughout her monologue, Evan had slowly moved closer, bringing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close for the second time. “I’m sorry. You-you can stay here as long as you’d like, if it’s too much at home. Any time you need.”

Zoe presses her forehead against his again.

“Thank you. Really.” She leaned forward, kissing him, savoring the feeling of being together and near each other.

“I love you,” he whispered, and by the way his cheeks colored so quickly and she could feel his pulse begin to pick up speed, he hadn’t meant to say it then. But before he could open his mouth again, she gave him another kiss and whispered “I love you too” against his lips.

And Zoe forgot about her parents and her brother, and her headache from crying, and Heidi, probably waiting outside with the tea she’d made.  
Right then, she only knew him.

_And the rest of the world falls away,_

_and_ _it’s_ _only_ _us._

**Author's Note:**

> as always catch me at @itstrulyastrangerthing or @a-secondhand-sorrow for more fic! pls comment nd kudos if you’d like to


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